Stabilizing support for elevated structures

ABSTRACT

Technologies and implementations for a stabilizing support structure system, which may provide vertical and lateral support for a secondary structure over an existing structure. The secondary structure may be a secondary roof, which may be elevated over an existing roof. The secondary structure may be a porch, which may be elevated over an existing roof.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/085,009, filed on Sep. 29, 2020, titled DECK STABILIZING SUPPORT OVER AN EXISTING ROOF, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/085,024, titled STABILIZING SUPPORT HAVING LATERAL SUPPORT, and is a continuation patent application of PCT Patent Application number PCT/US21/52619, filed Sep. 29, 2021, titled STABILIZING SUPPORT FOR ELEVATED STRUCTURES all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

INFORMATION

Construction and fabrication may involve utilization of support structures. The support structures may be of a variety of shapes, sizes, and orientations. An example of a support structure may be a vertical support structure. The vertical support structure may be utilized to take the load of an object. In construction such as, but not limited to, construction of a house, the vertical support structures may be utilized to help facilitate support of a load of a roof related structure.

For example, a house may commonly include a roof, and it may be desirable to modify the roof to accommodate various needs. For example, it may be desirable to extend an area covered by a roof to facilitate additional covered area for the house. An example method of adding or modifying a roof may be to add an additional roof over an existing roof, where the additional roof may extend beyond the existing roof to provide coverage over a previously exposed area around the structure. In order to facilitate the addition of an additional roof over an existing roof, various systems may be utilized.

One example of an additional roof system may involve supports, where the supports may be in the form of vertical struts to help facilitate the bearing of a load of the additional roof. Because of the importance of a roof, the additional roof system may meet various requirements such as, but not limited to, mechanical requirements. Some examples of mechanical requirements may include vertical support strength, horizontal support strength, sheer strength, torque strength, corrosion resistance, etc. The vertical strut type supports, that may be utilized to facilitate bearing of the load for modifying an existing roof (e.g., a secondary/alternate roof disposed on top of an existing roof), may be vertical strut type structures that may facilitate elevating a secondary/alternate roof above an existing roof. Since the strut type structures may support a load associated with secondary/elevated roof, attaching the struts to the existing structure may be a challenging aspect of elevating a secondary/alternate roof.

In another example, a house may commonly include a roof, and it may be desirable to add a structure over the roof. For example, it may be desirable to add a porch onto a second floor of the house. An example method of adding a porch onto a second floor may be to add a porch structure over an existing roof, where the porch structure may extend over the existing roof. In order to facilitate the addition of the porch structure over an existing roof, various systems may be utilized.

All subject matter discussed in this section of this document is not necessarily prior art and may not be presumed to be prior art simply because it is presented in this section. Plus, any reference to any prior art in this description is not and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that such prior art forms parts of the common general knowledge in any art in any country. Along these lines, any recognition of problems in the prior art are discussed in this section or associated with such subject matter should not be treated as prior art, unless expressly stated to be prior art. Rather, the discussion of any subject matter in this section should be treated as part of the approach taken towards the particular problem by the inventor(s). This approach in and of itself may also be inventive. Accordingly, the foregoing summary is illustrative only and not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

SUMMARY

Described herein are various illustrative stabilizing support structure system and apparatus. Example systems and apparatus may be configured to structurally support a secondary roof over an existing roof. Some example systems and apparatus may be configured to support a porch like structure above an existing roof. The example systems and apparatus may include a riser to facilitate the structural support. A stabilizing collar may be utilized with the riser to further facilitate structural support. The structural support may include vertical and lateral structural support.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several embodiments, in accordance with the disclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a support structure integrated with an existing roof to support a porch over the existing roof, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of a support structure integrated with an existing roof, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detail view of a support structure, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side detail view of a support structure, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a structural support riser having lateral support bracket, in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description sets forth various examples along with specific details to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. It will be understood by those skilled in the art, however, that claimed subject matter may be practiced without some or more of the specific details disclosed herein. Further, in some circumstances, well-known methods, procedures, systems, and/or components have not been described in detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the claimed subject matter.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the Figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.

This disclosure is drawn, inter alia, to apparatus, and systems related to a stabilizing support for elevated structures.

Support structures may be utilized in facilitating remodeling of structures such as, but not limited to, roofs. The support structures may provide the mechanical structural support for a secondary/alternate roof over an existing roof.

Before turning to the figures, some non-limiting example applications of the various embodiments of the present disclosure may be described.

In one non-limiting example, a structure such as, but not limited to, a dwelling (hereon out, house). A house may have various components including a roof. The roof may be configured to cover the house to a certain point. Continuing with this non-limiting example scenario, the house may be a two story house. In this example, a secondary structure such as, but not limited to, a porch may be built on the second flood extending over the existing roof.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the porch may be supported over the existing roof by one or more supporting apparatus. The porch may be supported by a supporting apparatus such as, but not limited to a support apparatus available from SkyLift™ Roof Riser Hardware of Salem, Oreg. In this non-limiting example, the support apparatus available from SkyLift™ may be referred to as a “riser” similar to the apparatus disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/399,263, filed Feb. 17, 2012, having the title Elevated Roof and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/741,353, filed Jun. 16, 2015, having the title Elevated Roof. Both U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 13/399,263 and 14/741,353 are incorporated by reference in their entirety. The riser may be utilized to support a secondary structure over an existing roof. Additionally, the riser may be integrated with the existing roof.

Continuing with non-limiting example of the porch built above the existing roof, the risers may be integrated with the existing roof to help facilitate support of the porch. As disclosed in the patent applications incorporated herein, the risers may be configured to penetrate through the existing roof. As will be shown by the Figures, the riser may be attached to a support beam disposed between two roof support structures such as, but not limited to, between two joists. The support beam may be held in place between the joists using various brackets appropriate for the required structural loads.

For this non-limiting example scenario, one or more risers may be integrated with the existing roof in various locations under the porch to provide the appropriate support based, at least in part, on the load requirements of the porch. As a result, a secondary structure such as a porch may be supported over an existing roof with the support apparatus being integrated with the existing roof.

In another non-limiting example, the house may be a one story house having a porch in front of the house. The roof may cover the house and a periphery of the house. However, the roof may not provide coverage over the porch, and accordingly, a secondary/alternate roof may be desired to facilitate coverage over the porch. In this example, a secondary roof that may extend the peripheral coverage of the original roof may be a solution to extending the coverage by the original roof (i.e., provide cover for the porch).

The secondary roof may be a roof like structure supported above the original roof. The roof like structure may be supported by a supporting apparatus such as, but not limited to a support apparatus available from SkyLift™ Roof Riser Hardware of Salem, Oreg. In this non-limiting example, the support apparatus available from SkyLift™ may be referred to as a “riser” similar to the apparatus disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/399,263, filed Feb. 17, 2012, having the title Elevated Roof and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/741,353, filed Jun. 16, 2015, having the title Elevated Roof. Both U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 13/399,263 and 14/741,353 are incorporated by reference in their entirety. The riser may be utilized to support a secondary roof over an existing roof. Additionally, the riser may be attached to a load bearing part of the house (e.g., part of a frame of the house configured to support the existing roof).

Continuing with non-limiting example of the secondary roof being elevated above the existing roof, the risers may be attached to a load bearing structural component of the house (e.g., load bearing frame of the house configured to at least facilitate support of the secondary roof). As disclosed in the patent applications incorporated herein, the risers may be configured to penetrate through the existing roof and attach to the load bearing structure (e.g., a load bearing frame/wall of the house). Accordingly, several of the mechanical properties to support the secondary roof may be provided by the risers (e.g., vertical strength). However, a mechanical property that may be further enhanced may be lateral support strength (e.g., support being substantially perpendicular to the riser).

For this non-limiting example scenario, at least two risers may be placed on a load bearing wall, where the risers may extend up through the existing roof. The two risers may be spaced a predetermined distance from each other along the load bearing wall to help facilitate structural support for the secondary roof. The risers may each include a bracket disposed on a vertical member of the risers. The brackets face each other between the two risers. A horizontal member may be disposed into the brackets between the two risers facilitating a lateral structural support for the risers, in accordance with various embodiments.

Continuing with the non-limiting scenario, the top of the two risers may be configured to support a trailing edge of the secondary roof. The trailing edge may be some form of structural member such as, but not limited to, a wooden board having various dimensions. Between the two risers, a structural member may be disposed within the brackets to support the risers in the lateral direction. Again, the structural member may be structural members such as, but not limited to, a wooden board having various dimensions to facilitate appropriate support. The material may be not limited to wood, and accordingly, may include a wide variety of material such as, but not limited to fibrous material such as, but not limited to, a wood material including plywood, pressboard, solid wood, metal plate, plastic plate, and so forth plywood.

The system described in the non-limiting scenario above may facilitate mechanical support strength in the vertical and horizontal direction. In accordance with the various embodiments of the present disclosure, lateral support strength (i.e., horizontal direction) of a riser like apparatus may be further enhanced.

Turning now to the Figures, FIG. 1 illustrates a stabilizing support structure system integrated with an existing roof to support a porch over the existing roof, in accordance with various embodiments. In FIG. 1 , a house 102 may have one or more stories (e.g., a first floor 104 and a second floor 106). The second floor 106 may have a porch 108 extending from over an existing roof 110 of the first floor 106 (e.g., over a garage). The porch 108 may be supported by one or more support structures 112 underneath the porch. The support structures 112 may include a riser as will be described in detail and incorporated by reference herein. The support structures 112 may be shown to be integrated with the existing roof, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of a stabilizing support structure system integrated with an existing roof to support a porch over the existing roof, in accordance with various embodiments. In FIG. 2 , a side view of the house 102 shown in FIG. 1 may be illustrated.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detail view of a stabilizing support structure system, in accordance with various embodiments. In FIG. 3 , a stabilizing support structure system 300 may include a support beam 302 may be disposed between two support structures 304 configured to support the existing roof 110 of the first floor 104 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (e.g., joists of the first floor roof 110). Additionally, the stabilizing support structure system 300 may include a support apparatus such as, but not limited to, a riser 306. As shown, a base 308 of the riser 306 may be attached to the support beam 302. As a result, the stabilizing support structure system 300 may facilitate support of the porch 108 on the second floor 106 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , in accordance with various embodiments.

The included riser 306 with its base 308 may be the support apparatus available from SkyLift™ Roof Riser Hardware of Salem, Oreg. The riser 306 may be the apparatus disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/399,263, filed Feb. 17, 2012, having the title Elevated Roof and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/741,353, filed Jun. 16, 2015, having the title Elevated Roof. Both U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/399,263 and 14/741,353 are incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side detailed view of a stabilizing support structure system, in accordance with various embodiments. In FIG. 4 , the side detailed view of the stabilizing support structure system 300 may show the riser 306 attached to the support beam 302. As shown, the support beam 302 may be integrated with the existing roof 110 of the first floor 104. As shown, a hole 402 may be cut into the first floor roof 110, which may accommodate pass through of base 308 of the riser 306. The base 308 may be attached to the support beam 302 as shown. In FIG. 4 , the hole 402 cut to facilitate penetration of the first floor roof 110 may be covered by a flashing 404 to facilitate covering of the hole 402. Additionally, it is contemplated within the scope of the present disclosure that the support structure system 300 may include flashing having apparatus such as, but not limited to, a stabilizing support structure configure to stabilize the riser 306 various directions. For example, the flashing 404 may include stabilizing support systems such as, but not limited to, a stabilizing support systems as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/922,938, filed on Jul. 7, 2020, and titled Stabilizing Support Structural Collar System, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety and for all purposes. As a result, a second floor structure may be supported over an existing roof, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a structural support apparatus, in accordance with various embodiments. In FIG. 5 , a structural support 500 may have a substantially vertical member 502, a first bracket 504 coupled to a first end of the substantial vertical member 502, and a base 506 coupled to a second end of the substantial vertical member 502. The base may be similar to the base 308 shown in FIG. 3 . Additionally, shown in FIG. 5 , the structural support 500 may include a second bracket 508 located along the substantial vertical member 502. The first bracket 504 may be configured to support a support structure such as, but not limited to, a cross beam 510, which may be a trailing edge of an elevated roof over an existing roof 110 shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4 . As shown in FIG. 5 , the second bracket 508 may be configured to support a support structure such as, but not limited to, a lateral support beam 512, in accordance with various embodiments. In FIG. 5 , the structure support 500 may facilitate providing enhanced lateral support strength (i.e., horizontal direction) to a riser like apparatus. Additionally, it is contemplated within the scope of the present disclosure may include apparatus such as, but not limited to, a stabilizing support structure in various directions. For example, the cover may include systems such as, but not limited to, a stabilizing support as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/922,938, filed on Jul. 7, 2020, and titled Stabilizing Support Structural Collar System, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety and for all purposes.

It should be appreciated that the stabilizing support structure system may include structural material such as, but not limited to, wood, plastic, metal, and any combination thereof. Additionally, the attachment of the various components described herein may include screws, bolts, glue, welds, and any combination thereof. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

Reference in the specification to “an implementation,” “one implementation,” “some implementations,” or “other implementations” may mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with one or more implementations may be included in at least some implementations, but not necessarily in all implementations. The various appearances of “an implementation,” “one implementation,” or “some implementations” in the preceding description are not necessarily all referring to the same implementations.

While certain exemplary techniques have been described and shown herein using various methods and systems, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted, without departing from claimed subject matter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter without departing from the central concept described herein. Therefore, it is intended that claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject matter also may include all implementations falling within the scope of the appended claims, and equivalents thereof. 

What is claimed:
 1. A stabilizing support structure system comprising: a support beam, the support beam configured to be attached between two support structures; and a riser attached to the support beam, the riser configured to vertically support a secondary structure, the secondary structure being at least one of an elevated porch or an elevated roof over an existing roof.
 2. The stabilizing support structure system of claim 1, wherein support structures comprise of two joists, the two joists configured to support the existing roof.
 3. The stabilizing support structure system of claim 1, wherein the support beam is made of wood.
 4. The stabilizing support structure system of claim 1, wherein the riser is made of metal.
 5. The stabilizing support structure system of claim 1 further comprising a stabilizing support collar.
 6. The stabilizing support structure system of claim 1 further comprising a flashing, the flashing configured to cover a hole configured to pass through a base of the riser.
 7. A structural support apparatus comprising: a substantially vertical member; a first bracket coupled to a first end of the substantial vertical member, the first bracket configured to support a first support structure; a base coupled to a second end of the substantial vertical member; and a second bracket located along the substantial vertical member, the first bracket configured to support a second support structure.
 8. The structural support apparatus of claim 7, wherein the substantially vertical member comprises a riser, the riser configured to structurally support at least one of an elevated porch or a secondary roof.
 9. The structural support apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first support structure comprises cross beam.
 10. The structural support apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second support structure comprises a lateral support beam.
 11. structural support apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a base, the base configured to penetrate a hole in an existing roof. 